MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday June 30th

Published on June 30, 2009 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Fort Wayne TinCaps (affiliate of the San Diego Padres) in the first game of a four game series.  Season Series:  Fort Wayne 11, Dayton 0.  (first meeting in Dayton in 2009).  Fort Wayne won the Eastern Division First Half title to qualify for post-season play and they are 4-0 in the second half.   Last Game:  Dayton lost at Lansing Sunday 5-3 as the two clubs split the four-game series to start the second half.  Mike Konstanty led a nine-hit Dragons attack, going 2 for 4 with a triple and two runs batted in.  Lansing scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to break a 3-3 tie after Dayton had scored twice in the top of the inning to tie the game. 

Today's Starting Pitcher:  J.C. Sulbaran (pronounced SOOL-ber-wrong) makes his 10 professional start tonight for Dayton.  Sulbaran last pitched on June 17th vs. Lansing and suffered his first professional loss (4 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 2 SO).  Over his last two starts, Sulbaran's earned run average has risen from 3.16 to 4.60.  He has allowed nine earned runs in six innings of work over those two starts.  Sulbaran started the season in extended spring training in Sarasota due to a blister problem on his right (pitching) hand.  Sulbaran has pitched in some big international games.  He appeared in two games for Team Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and started a game for the Netherlands in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing against Cuba.  Sulbaran moved from the island of Curacao in the Caribbean to the Miami area with his family at age 16 to further baseball career.  He was honored as the Miami-area pitcher of the year in 2008, going 11-0, 1.40.  He fell to the 30th round of the 2008 draft due to his commitment to the University of Florida but the Reds eventually signed him with a $500,000 bonus, a record for that round.  He was voted the best pitcher in the 2004 Latin American Youth Baseball Tournament while playing for the Netherlands Antilles.  He was rated by Baseball America as the 20th best prospect in Reds organization prior to 2009 season.   Skipper: Todd Benzinger makes his professional baseball managerial debut in 2009. Benzinger enjoyed a nine-year major league playing career from 1987-1995 with the Reds, Red Sox, Royals, Dodgers, and Giants.  Todd is a former first baseman who recorded the final putout of the 1990 World Series with the Reds to complete their four-game sweep of the Oakland A's.  Benzinger is a native of the Cincinnati area and currently resides in West Chester, Ohio.  He has enjoyed a highly-successful career coaching girls' high school basketball since 1999. 

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